The first man who started complaining about An Xiaomei noticed that quite a few people were agreeing with him. Instantly, his confidence soared. As the chorus of criticism grew louder, he even made a point to @ An Xiaomei directly.
"I call on everyone to unite and boycott this cold-hearted woman! She's sitting on piles of resources yet still exploits struggling adventurers like us.
If you have even a shred of conscience, you should stop acting like some greedy capitalist!"
An Xiaomei didn't even bother lifting her eyelids at his self-righteous moral sermon.
She hadn't come to this world to play savior.
So she simply posted a new message in the regional chat:
"Any adventurer who slanders me from this point on — I will never trade with you again.
Others interested in exchanging goods, send a private offer.
Your offer must include energy stones."
After sending the message, she shut off the regional chat entirely, not caring one bit about how the others reacted.
——
Two thousand kilometers away, a hook-nosed man was glaring at his wrist display.
His face, which had been full of smug excitement moments ago, twisted into anger.
He had wanted to use public opinion to pressure that woman named An Xiaomei — but clearly, she wasn't taking the bait.
Weren't women supposed to be soft-hearted?
But that one was as hard and stinking as a rock in an outhouse — utterly unyielding.
"Hmph. Don't get too proud," he thought darkly. "When I run into her later, I'll just rob her outright."
——
Because of chat time limits, An Xiaomei only came online five minutes every half hour.
She traded fairly with adventurers from Longguo (Dragon Nation) if the price was reasonable.
As for those from other countries — she refused to lower her prices, no matter how much they begged.
And as for players from the Island Nation… they were her special targets.
For instance, that Island Nation woman who had energy stones — the same one who had once tried to fleece her — came crawling back this time, voice full of humility:
"Friend, it's me — the one you chatted with before. I'm willing to pay two energy stones for a set of your winter clothes."
Gone was the arrogance from before. She sounded utterly desperate.
"Oh, I'm running low on winter sets now," An Xiaomei replied lazily.
"If you want one, it's triple the price. Otherwise, no deal."
Her tone was utterly fearless — after all, she wasn't the one desperate here.
"Y-You're price-gouging! We've traded before — can't you give me a discount?"
The woman tried to haggle, hoping to save her dwindling supplies.
But her message might as well have been tossed into the sea — no reply came back.
In truth, An Xiaomei ignored her on purpose. She had a deep-seated disgust for those Island Nation players.
Setting sky-high prices was her way of deliberate punishment.
If they didn't like it, all the better — fewer pests to deal with.
——
Just then, a new name appeared in the chat: Ares Velina, a woman who announced loudly:
"I have 30 winter outfits! Selling them at cost price — cheap and plentiful! First come, first served!"
Tempted by the "bargain," adventurers rushed to buy. Within ten seconds, all 30 sets were gone.
With such a "kind-hearted saint" showing up, An Xiaomei instantly became the villain in contrast — a greedy profiteer in everyone's eyes.
Soon, the chat filled with attacks again:
"We should all buy from Ares Velina! Let An Xiaomei's stock rot in her hands!"
"Yeah! I just got one from Velina — looks exactly like the basic set the game gave out! It's legit, guys, hurry up!"
An Xiaomei read the chat and chuckled, her lips curling into a sneer.
She looked at the mob of fools dancing to someone else's tune — pathetic.
Some of her existing customers, however, recognized the red flags.
They hurried to buy another winter outfit from her before stock ran out.
Others, worried that people were getting duped, tried to warn the group:
"Listen, don't fall for scams! The winter outfits made by adventurers are different from the game-issued warm sets — they can actually change color based on the owner's will!"
The kindhearted girl even listed the detailed differences between the real and fake ones.
Some of the smarter adventurers started to sense something was off.
But a few stubborn idiots began sending her private insults instead:
[Spit it out — did An Xiaomei pay you to defend her?]
[Unbelievable. You're siding with the exploiter for profit? Shameless!]
[What, business drying up for An Xiaomei, so she hired you to play shill?]
…
The round-faced girl trembled with anger as she read the messages.
Finally, she slammed the chat closed.
Forget it. She shouldn't have bothered trying to help.
If these people wanted to be scammed, that was their problem.
——
When midnight struck, those who had bought winter outfits from Ares Velina made a chilling discovery—literally.
Their new "warm clothes" suddenly disintegrated into nothing, vanishing along with the game-issued basic outfits.
Only then did they realize the awful truth — they'd been conned.
Desperate and freezing, adventurers flooded the chat:
"Scammer! Come out here!"
"We thought you were a good person — turns out you're just garbage!"
"How dare you sell us gear that disappears after a few hours! Show yourself!"
But no matter how much they shouted, Ares Velina never appeared again.
——
Four hours earlier, she had seen An Xiaomei selling winter sets and come up with a "brilliant" plan.
She'd bought up discarded basic warm outfits from other adventurers, then resold them as if they were the new winter ones — a classic bait-and-switch.
After the scam blew up, An Xiaomei's business only grew hotter.
Just from this one winter outfit venture, she earned enough to activate her Island Attachment Token — one hundred energy stones in total — with extra resources to spare.
At 7:00 p.m., all surviving adventurers received a new game notification:
"Ding! A new Team Battle Mode will soon begin.
You have one hour to prepare. Detailed rules will be announced shortly."